The Madrid derby never really ends when the final whistle blows — it simply moves to a different arena. This week, that arena was social media and broadcast television, as Real Madrid TV fired back at Atlético de Madrid and Diego Simeone with a pointed video response that aired on 22 September, according to a report by Diario AS cited by Football Espana.
What Happened
The trigger for Real Madrid TV’s video was a tweet from Atlético and comments made by Simeone in the aftermath of the most recent derby. Atlético had adopted a tone calling for respect toward match officials — and Real Madrid TV’s response was essentially to hold up a mirror and ask whether that call for respect had ever applied to Atlético themselves.
The video’s central argument, as relayed by Diario AS, is built not on any new incident but on a carefully assembled carousel of archive footage and old social media posts. The message is one of selective memory: that Atlético’s suddenly pious stance on referee treatment doesn’t square with their own history. Specifically, the video recalls Simeone previously describing the league as “dangerously prepared for Madrid” — a comment that will feel very familiar to long-suffering Madrid fans — and a statement attributed to Atlético chief executive Miguel Ángel Gil Marín suggesting that the same refereeing dynamic had supposedly been running for a decade.
The video also digs up Atlético communications that previously questioned refereeing decisions, along with a club social media post that once urged followers to retweet if they wanted the rules applied equally to all clubs. Draw your own conclusions on that one.
To drive the point home further, Real Madrid TV pulled historical clips of Atlético figures in heated confrontations with officials. According to Diario AS, the footage included Simeone grabbing a linesman during an on-field altercation, former assistant coach Germán ‘Mono’ Burgos being physically restrained during an argument with a referee, and Arda Turan throwing a boot toward an assistant referee. It’s a compelling reel, whatever your allegiances.
The video closes with a final twist: the note that Manzano, a former Atlético head coach, is now the person responsible for designating match officials. Real Madrid TV frames that fact as yet another example of what it sees as Atlético’s inconsistent relationship with the officiating debate, per Diario AS.
What It Means for Real Madrid
Derby week tensions between Real Madrid and Atlético are nothing new — this is one of Spanish football’s most combustible rivalries, and the two clubs have exchanged public barbs many times over the years. What makes this episode notable is the deliberate, produced nature of Real Madrid TV’s response. This isn’t a stray quote from a press conference; it’s an edited video with archive footage, constructed to make a specific argument. That suggests the club is taking the referee narrative seriously as a reputational matter, not just brushing it off.
For Madridistas, this kind of pushback will feel long overdue. The perception that Real Madrid’s refereeing grievances are dismissed while rival clubs’ complaints receive a more sympathetic hearing has been a running frustration among the fanbase for years. Real Madrid TV positioning itself as the vehicle for that response gives supporters something concrete to point to — and clips like the Arda Turan boot incident are hardly going to soften Atlético’s standing in this particular argument.
It’s also worth noting the broader context: early-season La Liga title races tend to be shaped as much by the psychological and political background noise as by results alone. When two clubs this closely matched — and this closely located geographically — are publicly at war over officiating perceptions, it adds an extra layer of pressure to every subsequent fixture between them.
What’s Next
As of the time of reporting, Diario AS had not published any verified direct response from Atlético or Simeone to this specific video. Whether Simeone addresses it at his next press conference, or whether the club responds via their own channels, remains to be seen. But given the pattern of escalation so far, it would be surprising if this was the final word from either side.
For now, Real Madrid TV has made its point loudly and with receipts. The ball — and the boot, for that matter — is in Atlético’s court.
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